Biography

I received a M.S. and Ph.D. from Virginia Tech where I studied the ecology of cave streams and karst aquifers in the U.S.A. and France. After my Ph.D. I was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Otago in New Zealand where I investigated the ecosystem consequences of brown trout introduction and agricultural land use on streams. I was an Associate Professor in the School of Biology and Ecology at the University of Maine, U.S.A. prior to moving to the University of Auckland in 2012.

Research | Current

I have broad interests in freshwater ecology but I am primarily interested in interactions between ecosystem processes and community structure in streams, lakes, and groundwater systems. I am particularly interested in how changes in community structure and interactions translate into changes in how ecosystems function. My research involves a mix of biogeochemistry, invertebrate biology and microbial ecology. Examples of my current research include whole-watershed nitrogen tracking using stable isotopes at the Bear Brook Watershed in the U.S.A. (BBWM), stream function response to urbanisation and agricultural land use and mining, ecosystem consequences of invasive fish evolution in lakes and streams, and alpine lake-stream response to glacier loss. This research is conducted with collaborators and students in New Zealand and the U.S.A..